My joyful solo break of beer tents, Swiss folklore and yodelling with strangers

Julie Andrews sang about the hills being alive with the sound of music, but during my visit to Switzerland it was Basel’s cobbled streets that were ringing with the tunes of yodel choirs. Held every three years, the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest, the Swiss Federal Yodelling Festival, is a colourful celebration of Swiss traditions. This year’s event was even more special because it was the first time the festival had returned to Basel in over 100 years, and the first time it had been staged since yodelling was awarded intangible cultural heritage status by Unesco in December 2025. Originating in Europe’s central Alps in the 16th century, yodelling was originally used by farmers to herd cows and goats, and to pass messages across the mountain valleys. Defined by rapid shifts between a normal chest voice and a high-pitched falsetto, the rural sing-song method of communication has largely faded from day-to-day use. But, across Switzerland, it’s being kept alive. There’s a yodelling-themed hiking path in St Stephan, yodel choirs who perform at the annual autumnal Züglete festival in Gstaad, when the cattle return from high pastures, and, in Lucerne, the Stadtkeller restaurant hosts nightly yodel performances as part of its “Swiss Night Out”. Regional yodelling festivals also take place across Swiss cantons. Shorts As someone who spent her childhood weekends rewinding VHS tapes of The Sound of Music, I was thrilled to learn that yodelling still has a place in Swiss society, and even more so when I discovered the Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest, Switzerland’s Eurovision of yodelling. It draws around 200,000 visitors and thousands of participants from around the world. “It’s a party,” said Erik Julliard, director of the Jodlerfest. “It’s a celebration of our customs. We want to showcase this very, very old tradition.” This year’s festival coincided with a heatwave and riding the bus from the station into town, I spied one male yodelling troupe gently perspiring in dark brown trousers and tomato-red woollen waistcoats, their lapels embroidered with delicate flowers. As I made my way to the heart of the festival in the old town, I passed half a dozen more groups, each dressed in their own distinctive traditional costume. “The outfits are regional,” explained Shona Holmes of the Jodlerclub Echo Basel, one of the groups performing. “All the men in a club tend to dress in uniform, whereas the women have a bit more choice.” Katja Gaskell met Shona Holmes of the Jodlerclub Echo Basel, and her husband, Matthew – and both were dressed in traditional Swiss outfits Taking place over three days, this year’s festival saw more than 600 groups perform in churches and concert halls around the city. Although not a competition, groups are judged and scored from one to four against criteria including pronunciation and harmonic purity. Groups spend months rehearsing for the judged performance, but what makes this festival so much fun for spectators are the countless impromptu performances that pop up across town. “I call them yodelling jam sessions,” said Astrid Minder, the festival’s communications manager. “And the locals love them.” Over the course of the festival, I spied a trio of girls singing on the street, a mixed group yodelling over breakfast and another harmonising after dinner in a local restaurant. I even spotted one shirtless male quartet in full voice keeping cool the traditional Basel way, submerged in one of the city’s fountains, hats on and beers in hand. Tinguely Fountain, also known as Carnival Fountain, in Basel. During the festival, the city’s fountains are a popular place for impromptu yodelling sessions (Photo: Getty) Keen to get involved, I joined a group yodelling workshop in the Yodelling Village, a makeshift open-air folk village filled with restaurants and beer tents on Petersplatz (St Peter’s Square). Sporting Heidi plaits and an acoustic guitar, singer and yodeller Seraina Clark led us through the hour-long session, starting with breathing exercises and vocal warm-ups before instructing us in a natural yodel, a yodel without lyrics. “It’s like calling the cows,” said Seraina smiling as she broke into a yodel-ay-ee-oo, throwing her arms wide and motioning for us to copy her. I took a breath, opened my mouth and tried to mimic Seraina’s lilting melody, but what came out sounded more like a cry for help than a yodel. It turns out that yodelling is not as easy as Julie Andrews made it out to be. But it’s not just yodelling that’s celebrated at the Jodlerfest. The event also spotlights alphorn playing, 10-feet-long woodwind instruments once used for calling lonely goatherds, and today more commonly spotted at festivals or even at experimental jazz concerts. Flag swinging (Fahnenschwingen) is also on show with performers hurling huge, canton-coloured flags high into the air, spinning and catching them with the flick of a wrist. The festival changes locations each time, but Basel and its old town offered a scenic base this year (Photo: Getty) “Altogether we have 12,000 yodellers, alphorn players and flag swingers taking part from all over Switzerland,” said Julliard. “We also have 150 participants from around the world, including Australia and South Korea.” The festival’s scheduled highlight came on Sunday, a grand closing ceremony of choirs, alphorns and flag swinging, held in front of the 500-year-old red sandstone Town Hall on Marktplatz. Shortly after, the performance results were published and whoops of joy echoed across the square as clubs celebrated their scores. “We got a two, which means ‘very good’,” said Shona. “We all put a lot of work in for this weekend and we’re looking forward to celebrating our results.” A parade marked the festival’s close, a lively procession of brass bands, alphorn players, pipe bands, flag swingers and colourfully decorated trailers packed with yodel groups, trundling along behind tractors. Standing in the crowd applauding this joyful celebration of Swiss customs, I realised that yodelling is far from an Alpine cliché. It’s a living tradition, a way to bring communities together and a very good excuse for a party – the next Eidgenössisches Jodlerfest may not be until 2029, but the Romandy Yodelling Festival, with contests and recitals, will be held in Château-d’Oex in July next year. How to get there and around The writer was a guest of Basel Tourism, Jodlerfest and Swiss International Air Lines. One-way fares to Zurich start from £76 and include one piece of checked luggage. Travel Switzerland offers a Swiss Travel Pass for international visitors, giving unlimited travel across the rail, bus and boat network from £229 for a three-day second-class ticket. Where to stay Hotel Odelya has doubles from CHF 245 (£222), not including breakfast, odelya.ch/en